God bless the fan who recorded this. There was no taper's section back then. Jerry's voice sounds as good as it ever did, just wonderful. Don't know why someone below said that Donna was absent for this show-- I can hear her just fine, particularly on the chorus of Franklin's. Although a SNBD of this would be nice, we can be extremely grateful that an AUD of this quality level is here for all to download. A really special show!

I’D SEEN KEZAR WITH WAYLON AND the Day on the Green with the Beach Boys thanks to my brother (Thursday night October 74’ shows with friends), but this was my first self-motivated show. I hung off the Wnterlan’ stage in front of Garcia sucking it all in at 16. It was mindblowing. BFA, Milking the turkey and Slipknot were as open and mysterious as any Dark Star I heard later. Call me crazy. Fingers were flying.

How sweet is it to have this tune without lyrics.
I personally love the idea of various tunes done instrumental.
"I love what I love
and I want it that way"

Listening now. Can feel total Dead experience (Band + Audience) in this nicely played show.

I disagree with previous reviewer comment. "I hope it's not Eyes of the World" heard before a unique Peggy-O, likely spoken by the deadicated taper who brings us this show, and knowing there's little tape left, only means he doesn't want to have a tape flip in the middle of a known long song.

I'm a soundboard snob, but this Aud does a good job of capturing both show & crowd. The Banter is quite interesting.
In response to another reviewer's posting, I thought it was a little strange that the someone in the crowd wouldn't want to hear Eyes of the World. After listening w/ headphones, it appears that the coversation was by a Taper himself wanting a short song before Peggy because he only had about 10 min of tape left & his batteries were in need of a change. Another Taper (maybe Rob?) agreed to the same problem. The tape cuts right after Peggy just making it. Right after & before MAMU, it sounds as if the same mic holder is being complained to by a guy (in front) of him for sliding his equipment up too far.

As far as the music, isn't that Donna that joins late in SSDD ~7:00? And the best part of hearing this show, when I listen to Blues for Allah ~1:10-3:20, I'm reminded of the melody of what would eventually become the instrumental part of Terrapin, At a Siding, as in the Outtakes of 2-20-77, although not as masterful. So it looks like this little played song was not just left behind entirely, but built upon. I wonder if anyone else hears this?

This Crazy Fingers is unreal. I have not heard anything that comes close, except maybe 7-29-88 Laguna Seca.

But it is totally unreal. Unlike anything the dead played before or since. Download this now.

really great, and very unique. Where was Donna?

Actually, gphishmon, they did not play Blues For Allah in Golden Gate Park on 9/28/75, they did do Stronger than Dirt though.

Essential show.

5 stars. Excellent set, and great quality for an aud!

It's all about those choice moments you catch in an aud, as opposed to a soundboard.

ie: beginning of Peggy-O, before the music kicks in, you hear two guys chatting, and one says "hope it's not eyes of the world."

haha! This show is a must-download.

There are two things that I really love about this tape and this show. 1. For a mid 70's aud tape, it's dub. 2. This show really captures that feeling that went out of Dead shows about thetime the Brent era started. (Don't get me wrong, Brent was OK.) There is a real sense in this era that the fellas are challenging themselves to be better and tat they are truly earnest about their musicianship. They ripped a few monsters in this time, like the unbeleivable Cornell '77 Dew that puts virtually every other rock band on the planet out in Jerry's ashtray. (btw: Major thanks to Dan for the matrix post elsewhere on this server.) Blah blah blah, I especially like the intro. Some people liked to dis Uncle Bobo, but without him there would be no us, (to paraphrase Miles). I really f**king miss Jerry. It is so bittersweet to listen to this stuff.

They only did a scant handful of shows in 75, but every one had Blues for Allah and Stronger than Dirt. Why they stopped playing those two pieces is beyond me, and "pieces" describes them better than "songs" - they're true compositions, albeit with lots of room for jamming. I guess with Jerry getting more and more hooked on rat, they didn't keep up the rehearsals.

It seems a sad pattern with them - they dropped The Eleven and New Potato Caboose in 69, dropped Blues for Allah and Stronger than Dirt after 75, didn't play Help>Slip during 86-88, didn't play Lazy Lightning after 84, and didn't break out the Chain until Jerry was on death's door. All the most challenging (and some of the most satisfying) material was left unplayed for long stretches.

So, oh well, we only have 4 live performances of Blues for Allah and Stronger Than Dirt. I highly recommend getting, or at least streaming, them all. This recording is very good sound quality outside of a few brief dropouts. The performance of Blues>Drums>Dirt>Blues is stellar, as is the long Slipknot!, which got severely truncated on most of the 90's versions.

Wow! I just want to say thanks for this! What a Peggy O! And what a really fine audience recording! Master tape & everything! Thanks very much!

Awesome sound awesome show and about a million other awesomes to throw around. The little break the boys took seemed to have changed them from the shoot em up bar band sound of the early 70s into a slow sleeping giant of beautiful music for the good people.I dont have the time to say it all but if you dont dl this show yer crazy.

STOP IT! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!! Stop sending board after board that I've tirelessly collected to the recycle bin with clear, superior quality AUDs like this one! Aaaaaagggghh!!! - the boards scream as the recycle bin is emptied in one final *crunch*. Good Lord - what's a poor, self-respecting soundboard snob to do??

(Sigh!) Maybe there's some local band I can tape tonight from the board - if I don't get laughed out of the club for not having mikes. (Shuffles off...)

Let's not overlook the Dirt. I remember that summer. I was 13 living in Montana and knew nothing of the Dead except for Uncle John's and Truckin' which happened to be on an 8-Track my dad bought called Superstars of the 70's. Anyway, on PBS there was this special about the Grateful Dead, and how they were on hiatus, or maybe calling it quits, with interviews and concert footage. This boy was intrigued, let me tell you. And then Jerry's on the screen and he smiles and says something like they'll never really call it quits: "We're music junkies, man!" That stuck in my head for some reason. It wasn't 'til '77 that I would get my butt to a show.

But this is indeed a pivotal show, and it makes me wonder. All that Blues for Allah stuff, and the creation of some serious space jazz. But then Sugar Mag and US Blues kind of let you know that they're not gonna dig too deep for too long. As much as I always loved dancing to pop tunes, I was there to dive into the belly of the whale. I guess it's not a swim if you can't dry off, eh?

Are you kidding me...this show is incredible, where else will you find the first crazy and the first help>slip>frank...the help without words is cool and i find myself being the vocalist whenever i listen to it...and yes the Peggy-O just solidified the show...i am jealous that i didnt get a chance to be there...i wish they did all the Peggy-O's like this, but then again this ine would not have been sweeter

i love the crazy fingers i havent found a sweet version well maybe 8/13 but that show is hard to touch love the help slip instrumentals the sound quality is excellent and the show is overall a great time a little less energy than normal but hey i still break this one out occasionally i love 75

i DL'd this because it was the closest show to when I was born. I was exactly one week old when they played this and what a treat to have it in my collection. A great show all over!

I thought this was a very good show over all. I think the sound quality is really good. You get the crowd noise without it being intrusive. As for Peggy O, this one, as stated previously, is like none that I have heard before. I am a big fan of this song and this one is no exception. I have never heard it this slow and mellow before. This one make other versions almost seem like rockers in comparison. It is that mellow. This is worth checking out just for that alone. I thought the BIODTL was pretty sweet too. Try it. You might like it!!

...its all about One From the Vault, so therefore, it can be concluded that by association, its somewhat all about this show.

Crazy Fingers has the mellow post jam...wish it would have melted into something though...Don't like how it goes from trip-tonic Crazy Fingers into Beat It On Down the Line... and then Deal... It would have been sweet if Crazy Fingers just went to Peggy-O (don't know if there are any key issues with that transition, but the two vibes of both those versions would have created a solid heroin-sheek vibe--set the pace for the rest of the evening). Mellow.

(As a pointer the best Peggy-O ever is the London's Rainbow Theatre (March 21st, 1981))...knock you on the floor mellow.

this sounds great. i wish all 1970s shows sounded this good. and the show is even better

Sometimes break outs fall a bit flat when compared to what they become later. Not so with this Crazy Fingers, this is an excellent version. The super slowed down Peggy-O is fantastic. Help>Slip>Franklins is great imo, especially the Franklins laid back pace and the anomally of no words in the Help section.

The recording: for this time period, I think it's quite good. Garcias guitar shines. You can hear the sound of Winterland on this one. Personally I don't think they get much better for this era. but that's me, I love Aud's that really seem to capture the whole feel of the show and this one does it.

yeah...this is a landmark...Crazy Fingers AND Franklin's premiered all at one show...VERY nice. Sound quality is umm...well...yeah...but just to have these premiers in one outting...nice archival material.

apparently this is the first live performance of Crazy Fingers. the show opener

Pretty cool.

Hi all. I just discovered this i-trove.
Like the SNACK concert earlier that year, I always enjoyed going to Grateful Dead concerts that I thought would be a little out of the ordinary, hoping the band be inspired by the change. I guess this show doesn't exactly qualify, since they were on an indefinite hiatus from performing as a group anyway. However, when we (I) saw the poster for the show we knew what "Jerry Garcia and friends" meant.

I'd also like to say that Keith and band cooked! This was a nice surprise.

usually i stick to soundboards and having read many a persons hype an aud only to be dissapointed, to have read someone say the sound for this show sucks and then to have heard it i am damn impressed, as far as auds go, for any period this is very good in my opinion, everything is coming through very clear, beautiful peggy-o by the way

Hi Katie! Audience recording, not soundboard, so be advised. Noteworthy show since it is the only time in '75 the Dead played Winterland, I think... Various combinations in and around the Bay Area all year as The Jerry Garcia Band, which had Billy on drums and Keith and Donna. Also Kingfish and even the Keith and Donna Band were playing all the time, but the Dead were on hiatus at this time. This show billed as the 'Bob Freed Memorial', opened with The Emotions, then Keith and Donna, then Kingfish. The next act was 'Jerry Garcia and Friends', not the Jerry Garcia Band, as usual. And since there was a confirmed 'Phil sighting', I think everyone knew what was up- the place was crawling-jam packed. Excellent vibe- two hour long set- not the usual length, but everyone just so thankful that it was the Dead. Show sold out in advance, which was rare at Winterland for Kingfish and Garcia. Got a miracle ticket for a friend, his first Dead show, on the sidewalk outside before the show for $15.00, a pint of Cuervo Gold and a couple of joints of gold. Poor bastard who gave up that ticket! Another rare, historical show. Give it four.

I give this 5 stars for the debut of the Help>Slip>Frank trio alone. I wonder if the band knew how huge these songs would get over the next few years.

Sounds quality is great with some funny and timeless dialogue song selection is good but show is short and musically not as good as golden gate park while there is not alot from '75 and this is a good listen when placed in a larger universe it does not stack up - they are still wobbly... Cool peggy o.

This was my very first Dead show. Wow! Listening to it again after nearly thirty years is amazing. It's no wonder I was immediately hooked. The show is solid, the energy was great -- they were definitely at the top of their game. Thanks for the memories!

do yourself a favor and give this show a download. i don't know what everyone is talking about with the sound, for a '75 aud this is pretty damn good. jerry is on throughout the entire show.

While this is not the best audience recording one's ever going to hear, it captures ambience that a soundboard simply can not. Right out of the gate, you can feel the excitement of this crowd as they realize they're hearing something new and promptly STFU to soak it all in. Since this seems to be the only complete recording of this show available, I'd like to thank the taper and whoever did the transfer for making it available.

THE SET LIST IS GOOD ...BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR IN A TUNNEL LISTENING TO THE GROUP AT THE END PF THE TUNNEL

I have been waiting to review this to spread the word about what really is one of The Best. Where to begin...where to begin. Well the beginning I suppose.
With the first Crazy Fingers ever, and man they came out swinging for the fences!! Dreamlike, serene, everything you ever wanted. The jam in the BIODTL and Big River are strong and the band keeps playing hardball. For a long time I thought this was the first Peggy O ever...but i guess not? Either way it's not particularly a fav...but the chill style this night is akin to the mellow of the Crazy F. But to skip ahead...

The debut of Help on the Way. No lyrics yet either. Just a jam.

Slipknot! also debuts somewhere in there too.
And the first Franklin's Tower, which in all honesty hadn't obtained the mastery it later would, but is nonetheless a strong first showing. I suppose this is really what makes my point about the Help jam because for the being the debut it rages incredibly hard.

Pivotal show.